Dear
colleagues,
The
nights are getting longer and Halloween is fast
approaching. We invite you to join us for the first assembly of GHost,
Hosting I: "Haunted Houses", on 20 October 2009 at 6.30pm in the Court Room of Senate
House (South Block), University of London, Malet Street, WC1 7HU.
This is a free event but please rsvp [log in to unmask]
if you want to attend.
“GHost”
brings together artists, writers, curators, researchers and others to
investigate the various roles ghosts play in contemporary
culture. It consists of two workshops, so-called 'hostings' and
an exhibition and screening of moving image art. The
hostings take place at Senate House on 20 October
and 17 November and the exhibition will be hosted
by St Johns on Bethnal Green on 18 December. Both 'hostings' will be documented by
the artist Julian Wakeling with a series of ‘ghost
images’, which will haunt St Johns on the night of 18
December.
GHost
is organised by Sarah Sparkes and Ricarda Vidal
with the support of the Institute of Germanic & Romance Studies, School of
Advanced Study, University of London and St Johns
Church on Bethnal Green
Hosting
I “Haunted Houses”
Tuesday, 20 October 2009, 6.30 – 9pm,
Court Room, Senate House, University of London
Stéphanie
Sauget, ‘Haunted Houses with or without Ghosts?’, talk
Most
of the time, in the ghost stories of the Nineteenth Century, ghosts and haunted houses seem to
be linked and connected, even in the parody of the genre. But this
"obvious" link between haunted places
and ghostly creatures is not that clear in spiritualist press articles or in
the supposed "real" cases studied by the SPR (Society
for Psychical Research) or other scientists. In fact, it seems that the
definition of "what a ghost is" changed a lot between 1750 and
1950, both in Europe and in the United Stated.
Magnus
Irvin, ’The Deadman Talks’, performance
Living
people rarely have the opportunity to communicate properly with the dead. We
can seek out the guidance of spiritualists and mediums but all of these, both
genuine and spurious are but secondary messengers. In the company of a Dead Man
talking we are given a fascinating, first hand insight into the ways of death
and an opportunity to share the concerns of a corpse that has not completely
given up on life. His stories from beyond the grave raise the arcane issues of
mind-numbing silence, fundamental human urges, senseless desecration and
ornamental lakes. Many of us can spend our whole life without acknowledging the
existence of the dead or even meeting a real dead person. Here is an
opportunity.
Warning
to parents and minders: The Deadman’s views are frankly expressed.
The feint-hearted and weak of spirit should be aware that he has been dead for
a long time and doesn’t give a damn about social decorum.
Kirsten
Marie Raahauge and Ivar Tønsberg, ‘Contextual Autism’,
talk and art presentation
This
project deals with the notion of ghost from an anthropological and an artistic
angle. The contextual autism of ghosting reveals itself as a sensation of
in-betweeness in art as well as in everyday life. As a non-present
presence the ghost flavours its host with ghastly sensations of something dim,
vague, and indifferently deadpan. The artistic approach is trying to catch the
poetics of ghosts, while the anthropologist is questioning haunted people about
their real experiences of the unreal in haunted houses. The one haunts the
other.
Hosting
II “Hearing Ghosts”
Tuesday, 17 November 2009, 6.30 – 9pm,
Court
Room, Senate House, University of London
Elena
Kamilari, ‘Ghosts on Radio, a Ghost-Medium’, talk
Sarah
Wishart, ‘Something’s coming through – art and the
spectre’s voice’, talk
Fabrizio
Manco, ‘A Ghost is another Phantom?’ performance and talk
Artists,
please note that you can still send us work for the exhibition on 18 December.
For
more info please email us at [log in to unmask]
or
visit our blog: |
You
can also join us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=117301037117&ref=ts
Dr Ricarda Vidal
Lecturer in Visual Culture
Institute of Germanic & Romance Studies
School of Advanced Study
Stewart House, 32 Russell Squ, London WC1B 5DN
phone: 020 7862 8961